


SUNDAYS

by lizzybennettdarcy



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 20:04:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4578123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizzybennettdarcy/pseuds/lizzybennettdarcy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was just a regular old Sunday. There was nothing unusual about this day, identical to all other Sundays in every single way. The life changing stuff always seems to happen on regular old Sundays; betrayal, doubt and heartbreak. Post-Heir to the Demon. M for language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was just a regular old Sunday. She'd woken up, showered and chosen a bright, cheerful dress as per the norm. Her tablet was snugly tucked into her pink handbag and her latte was in her right hand. There was nothing unusual about this day, identical to all other Sundays in every single way.

The life changing stuff always seems to happen on regular old Sundays; betrayal, doubt and heartbreak.

Felicity navigated her little Honda Fit through the lazy morning traffic towards the Glades. She savoured a sip from her latte as she reflected on the events of the day before. The confrontation with Oliver's mother had not gone the way she'd expected. Felicity is a smart woman so she's in no way unaware of Moira Queen's sordid past; she herself had almost been buried alive under Verdant during the Undertaking. No, she was aware of the fact that Moira could be manipulative with a capital M. She'd admit that she was perhaps a bit blinded by Oliver's kindness and had expected something of the same from his mother. Selflessness had been the party line during the trial and thinking back on it, Felicity supposes that she bought in at least a little bit.

She'd gone in with the intention of confronting Moira with the truth and appealing to her better nature on the behalf of Oliver and of course Thea. Moira Queen it turns out, does not have a better nature. Cold, vicious and snakelike perhaps, but no trace of good nature could be found as she attempted to intimidate Felicity by playing on her apparent feelings for Oliver. Her words had been cold and hurtful. The calculating, triumphant smirk on her face as she ushered Felicity out was burned in her mind.

She chewed on her lip as she thought over her timing. She really wished she'd been able to tell Oliver in a better way and in a much different setting; his mother's mayoral candidacy gala just before his speech was not ideal. She blinked at her suddenly moist eyes as she remembered the way he'd promised she would never lose him. His eyes had been full of compassion and then promise as she spoke of her family and her fears of losing anyone else. And then she'd brought his world down around him. It amazed her that Oliver could even be surprised by the evils of the people around him anymore. She wouldn't blame him if he'd shrugged it off with a look of resignation. Only he hadn't shrugged it off. He'd taken on his mother's betrayal and shouldered the burden of yet another heartbreak.

She'd wanted to speak with him afterwards but he'd looked so lost on the way back to the lair and then the Nyssa/Sara thing had happened and she hadn't had the chance. Team Arrow always came before their personal lives, no matter how much devastation they had to ignore.

The car came to a stop in her usual parking space and she took her time leaving the car. She was anxious to check on Oliver but she was unsure of how to proceed. He'd promised that the hurtful truth wouldn't affect their relationship but it didn't mean that the whole thing wasn't a little awkward. She noticed his motorcycle was parked by the hidden door and followed her feet forward. Her latte had cooled unpleasantly on the drive over, she realised this with distaste as she sipped her takeaway cup. With her free hand she removed the false brick and pressed her thumb on the fingerprint scanner. The door buzzed open as she replaced the brick and walked into the building. She walked across the dark hall and keyed in her code.

The lair was quiet and dark as she descended the stairs. The lights flicked on around her as the motion sensors followed her movement. She dropped her purse on the desk and she booted up all of her screens. She was about to drop into her chair when she picked up on the soft sound of breathing.

Panic seized her and her body tensed. The sensors should have picked up on anyone else being in the basement with her. She slowly twirled on the spot and saw nothing in the area that she'd already walked through. Her gaze fell on the darkened corner on the workout mats. The lights weren't on in that part of the basement and if someone lay in wait for her, that was where they were hiding. She pressed a hidden panic button under her desk that would alert Diggle and Oliver that something was wrong in the batcave. She held her breath, thinking over her best options. Oliver and Dig would get here quickly, she could maybe just stand very still and wait for them. She reached for her cold latte and took a sip to calm her nerves.

She jumped when she heard the sound of a phone vibrating in the darkened corner. Her fists clenched as she waited for the intruder to answer it. The buzzing stopped after a moment and Felicity pushed the panic button again. The phone immediately started buzzing again and her eyes widened. The phone only buzzed when she pressed the panic button. What if it was Oliver or Digg in the corner? What if they were hurt? Felicity was feeling faint as a battle raged within her. It could be a psycho serial killer or it could be Oliver, bleeding and hurt. She slipped off her heels and found herself tiptoeing over the corner, armed with only her latte and a healthy dose of terror. The lights once again turned on in her wake and by the time she found the phone and its owner, it was too late.

 


	2. Chapter 2

The lights flicked on around her as she stared down in horror at the scene before her. Her latte slipped from her hand and hit the mat. It exploded on impact and showered not only herself but the very naked, very entwined couple lying at her feet. She heard the frantic sounds of John running down the stairs and yelling for her. She only had eyes for the very awake, very naked couple on the floor in front of her. Both were clearly too shocked to cover themselves or speak. John was at her back now and she didn't need to look at him to know he was staring hard at her.

The silence stretched on forever until she finally removed her gaze from Sara's very naked, very toned stomach and found Oliver's eyes instead. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to see there, but the myriad of emotions that flashed unguarded before her wasn't it. Their eyes held and she couldn't look away from the destruction that lay very naked at her feet. A burning in her chest made her eyes water and she realised she hadn't breathed since she'd come upon them. She felt herself swaying and she felt John's hand on her back, steadying her. She was aware of someone telling her to breathe but she couldn't seem to find the air. Sara and Oliver scrambled to their feet and Oliver was suddenly in her space. Her vision was starting to tunnel as a very naked, very anxious Oliver yelled for her to breathe. His mouth was moving quickly and his eyes were frantic but the sound was no longer reaching her over the roaring in her head. Her gaze flicked away from his face to Sara's. She quirked her head in question as she noticed the tears streaming down the blonde's face. Her eyes closed as she pitched forward towards the coffee-stained mat. Strong, bare arms caught her and she was cushioned against a very warm, very naked chest as she lost consciousness.

She was cold. So very cold. She shivered violently as her eyes popped open. Her fingers grazed the scratchy blanket that covered her and she turned her head from one side to the other. She wiggled her toes and hips before decided that she definitely wasn't injured. So why was she laying in the med bay? Her ears picked up the sounds of yelling across the room and her eyes followed the sound. She blinked as she watched everything sideways. Diggle and Oliver were faced off against each other. She'd never seen John this angry as he advanced on Oliver. She scrambled to push the blanket off and sat up on the bed. Her head was fuzzy and she swayed from moving too quickly.

"You're a selfish asshole, Queen!"

Her head snapped up in time to see John's fist connect with Oliver's cheek. She jumped from the table and was halfway to the mats when she saw the coffee stain at Sara's feet. Her feet skidded to a halt when she remembered just why she was on a med table and Oliver now had a black eye. She felt herself swaying once again as the movement caught up with her. Two arms steadied her from behind and she glanced over her shoulder to see Roy looking down at her in concern. She nodded her thanks and he draped an arm over her shoulder. She turned back to the mats and found that all attention was on her now. Time stood still and she realised that the future of the team might just hang on how she handled this. Roy squeezed her a little closer and she reveled in the body heat that started to warm her very cold body. She met John's eyes first and gave him a soft smile when she saw that he was ready to fight for her. He was one of the better friends she'd ever had and the best brother she could have adopted. Her eyes next fell on Sara who was staring at a spot over her shoulder teary-eyed. She tried to force herself into looking at Oliver but no matter what her mind demanded, her body and heart just wouldn't comply. She cleared her throat and noticed that every person in the room tensed.

"I need to get something to eat." Her eyebrows wrinkled because that wasn't what she'd meant to say.

"It's the adrenaline crash. I get it." Roy supplied from beside her and she trusted his word on it. She'd never met a bigger adrenaline junkie.

"That would make sense. I thought someone had broken in to the lair and was like waiting to rape and kill me or destroy the computers or something so," She giggled anxiously. "Which is why I fainted obviously. Not because of, you know. Anyway." She shot Diggle a panicked look as her thoughts spilled out of control. "Not that I'd prefer being raped or killed and I love my computers, so yeah, this was probably better and it's not like this is a big deal right? People sleep together all the time and-"

"Felicity." She fought to keep her eyes from shutting and tears from spilling as he said her name. He always had to  _say_ it differently than everyone else didn't he? The anguish in his tone this time was so much different from the way he usually cut her off. Instead of the relief she normally felt, she felt a rush of anger and more words fell out.

"People sleep together all the time, even when they shouldn't. You know drunken hookups and Russia mistakes and-" Her voice hardened and her eyes finally found Oliver. He looked more like he was in hell than the afterglow but she couldn't stop. "Sometimes when people say they can't be with people they actually care about, they're lying so the pathetic little IT girl won't feel so bad. Sometimes they sleep with people they shouldn't because it has the power to hurt pretty much everyone around them but sometimes they do it anyways. Sometimes they suck so much that they break people's hearts like it's nothing and-"

"Felicity." John's tone was sharp and full of warning and she knew he was trying to help her. He knew she was spilling things she couldn't take back. He knew she'd regret it but she couldn't stop. She wasn't aware of the tears that were falling down her cheeks until Roy wiped at the cheek facing him.

"Sometimes they don't see what's in front of them because they're chasing after prettier, more damaged  _Lance_ sisters, just fucking up things more than they were before!" Everyone flinched at the sound of her cussing and a growl tore through her throat unbidden. "You don't like when I say  _Fuck_?"

Her eyes were no longer watering as fury replaced the sorrow. "Why can't  _I_  say  _Fuck?!"_

" _Felicity!"_ It was a whisper and it did nothing to calm her.

"Well why not?! You and John get to swear when you're mad at each other and Roy's a regular old pottymouth. Is it because I'm saying Fuck? Is it because that's reserved only for hardened asskickers or is it just for people who actually spend time fucking? Huh?" She had left Roy's side and was now advancing on Oliver. They were chest to chest and she wasn't finished. "Fuck you, Oliver Queen." He took a step back, shock and hurt etched on his face and she followed him. "Fuck you. Obviously I know  _I_  won't be fucking you, that's reserved only for sisters and psychopaths but it feels nice to say it. Fuck you. Fuck you for lying to me and making me feel special. Fuck you for bringing another girl down her and fucking her in the home I've built for us here." She'd poked his chest with every statement. She came back to herself a bit and realised all of this had been said in front of a lot of people. Withdrawing her hand, she took a step back and whispered softly. "Go to hell, Queen."

She turned away from him and swept away from the team. She almost faltered when she heard his final words and the way that he whispered them. "I'm already there."

"Good." She shot back as she grabbed her shoes and purse and escaped up the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

She threw her bag on her passenger seat and was about to take a seat on the driver side when Roy manoeuvred her away from the car. She swung around to face him and he backed up with hands in the air.

"Hey! I'm on your side. But you shouldn't be driving. Between the hulk-out down there and the adrenaline crash, it isn't safe."

She considered his words and the man himself before she gave in. He slid behind the wheel and she took a seat beside him. He pulled away from the curb and she worked at bringing her breathing under control. She startled when he parked in front of Big Belly Burger. She looked at him in question and he shrugged. "You said you needed food."

She followed him into the burger joint and sat at a table as he placed their usual order but for two instead of four. She placed her head on her hand as she wondered if that was going to be how it was from now on. She couldn't believe how this morning had worked out. Everything always went to crap on Sundays. She hated Sundays. Oliver almost died in her car on a Sunday. The Undertaking happened on a Sunday. Isabel and Russia had been on a Sunday. Sundays could suck it.

Roy snorted from his place across the table and she realised she may have said that last bit out loud. She ate her fries as her thoughts carried her away once more. She needed to process everything. Here were the facts: she hated Sundays, the serial killer/rapist who'd scared the bejeezus out of her had turned out to not be a serial killer/rapist, Oliver was sleeping with Sara or at least had slept with her last night, he'd lied about not being able to be with someone he cared about, all of this caused her heart to hurt in a way that even Russia hadn't, she was in love with a man who would never love her back and she was a little embarrassed that she'd just had a hulk-worthy tantrum in front of the whole team.

"It really was hulk-like. Legit." Roy interrupted her apparently spoken thoughts and she face-palmed.

The two of them finished their meal in silence and left the building. He drove back to her house and followed her up to her apartment. He trailed after her and closed the door behind them. She sat on the couch and listened while he rifled through her kitchen for something. Between the Mirakuru and being a young adult, the guy was always hungry. So imagine her happy surprise when he walked in with two spoons and a carton of chocolate chip mint ice cream.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked when they'd made a healthy dent in the ice cream.

She considered his words and let them roll around in her mind for a moment. She didn't want to talk about how finding them naked had made her feel. And she didn't particularly want to talk about her fainting.

"Let's start with something easy." He suggested. "How are you feeling? A crash like that is never fun."

She nodded. "Yeah that sucked. I feel better now. I'm not cold or feeling faint."

He gave her a thumbs up and spooned some more ice cream into his mouth.

"When did you get there?" She wondered. She hadn't seen him until he was steadying her but it was possible he'd received the alert as well and had arrived earlier.

His face was a war between amusement and discomfort. He finally settled on a hardened smirk. "I got the alert and rushed over. I heard Oliver yelling and I booked it to the mats in time to see you pass out. Everything was a little confusing on account of you being unconscious in Oliver's arms and Sara crying and Dig threatening to castrate Oliver, who was naked still. Did I mention that?" He threw his head back and laughed. "You passed out and so he had to carry you to the med bay with his cock hanging out."

Felicity barked out a laugh that was half sob, half amusement. The image conjured so much amusement, a little bit of lust and a whole lot of pain.

Roy wrapped an arm around her shoulder and turned on an episode of Doctor Who while she cried into his shirt. She realised he might just be her very best friend when he commented that the tenth doctor would always be boss.

The day turned into night and eventually she had stopped crying and had ranted and vented to Roy thoroughly. By the time she was done his eyes were a bit wide and she'd paced a pattern across her living room carpet.

"So what are you going to do?" He asked when it was clear she was all talked out.

She dropped onto the couch beside him and blew out a long breath. "That's the question isn't it?"

"Do you love him?" He asked without preamble.

"Yes."

"Do you hate him right now?"

"Yes."

Roy shifted on the couch and she turned to face him. "Do you still believe in him?"

She blew out another long breath and paused. "I believe in the Arrow."

Her words seemed to make him sad but he replied anyway. "Then that will have to be enough."

They watched another episode of Doctor Who before he rose to leave. She walked him to the door.

"You know he'll come tonight right?" He asked her, hugging her tightly.

She didn't respond.

Roy had only been gone minutes when there was another knock on her door. She wasn't surprised; he'd probably been camped outside her building for hours now. She stayed where she was on her couch and raised the volume on the TV. He knocked again and again she raised the volume. She heard a light thud on her door and she could almost picture him with his head bowed against it, willing her to open up. He stood there for another twenty minutes and then she felt, rather than heard him leave. The tears began to fall again no matter how hard she tried to distract herself.

He came in through the window an hour later, hood and mask in place. She didn't move from the couch or show any sign of surprise. He moved to stand in front of her and when she made no move to look at him, he dropped to his knees and placed his hands on either side of her. After what could have been minutes or hours, she looked up at his eyes. There was so much happening behind those blue-grey eyes. He removed his hood and as he reached for his mask she covered his hand with her own and whispered, "Don't."

She let go of his hand and carefully pulled his hood back over his head. Hurt and confusion shone from his eyes but she shook it off.

"Why are you here?" Her tone was more controlled than she felt as she gazed at the purple bruising that peeked out from under the left side of his mask.

His hands bunched the sides of her skirt as he stared up at her. "To apologize."

She let out a half-concealed snort and his hands moved to her knees. "The problem is that there aren't enough words in my vocabulary, or any of the languages I speak to fix this."

She wondered at the despair in his tone even as she considered if he was right. Was there no coming back from this? Had he done the one thing she could never forgive him for?

"I don't even know where to start but I have to try. Because my whole world changed when I met you." She quirked an eyebrow at him in disbelief and he continued. "I was just a cold, damaged killer when I came back from the island. I was pretending to be the horrible, selfish playboy I'd been before by day while secretly killing men I deemed evil at night. I had this God complex and you pushed me out of it. You saw through my every excuse and lie and you saw  _me,_ Felicity. You  _saw_ me. No one else, not even Diggle saw me the way you do and it scared the hell out of me."

His thumb was rubbing soothing little circles on her leg and she wasn't sure if it was for her comfort or his own. When she looked back into his eyes she found that they were wet.

"You were wrong about me thinking you're a pathetic IT girl and I'm so sorry you actually think that. You're light where I'm dark and you're strong where I'm weak. And because of that I should cherish you and protect you and I don't. I fail, every fucking time. I hurt you all the time because in so many ways I'm still that mean, selfish kid who brought his girlfriend's sister on the Gambit." His voice cracked and he took in a deep breath. "You look at me like I'm the best thing that ever happened to you and people who put me up on that pedestal get hurt, Felicity. Because I'm not a hero, not without the hood and usually not with it either. Dig, he's a hero; he had the chance to kill Deadshot and he let him go. Roy has Mirakuru pumping through his veins and he still spent the day on the couch, letting you cry on his shoulder. And you, Felicity, you're a hero. Because not only do you keep us all together but you do it with a smile and you take care of us. You tell me the hard truths so that people don't get hurt, you save this city and the people around you every day. You save me. You, Felicity Smoak, are worth a hundred of me on your worst day."

She wasn't sure she'd ever been silent for so long and she'd certainly never heard him speak so much, but for the life of her she couldn't think of a single thing to say.

"You're brave and honest and you do what's right. You probably spent the whole day talking yourself into making the best of this situation for the good of the team. You told me about my Mother even though she threatened you and you know what's she's capable of. And for the record, no matter what happens I promise I won't allow her to touch you. Over my dead body will she  _ever_  hurt you."

There was so much hurt in his tone about his mother and despite her feelings, she tangled her fingers with his. Their eyes followed the movement and when she looked back up there were tears silently falling behind his mask.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so damn sorry. I always fall back into old habits when I'm upset and they always seem to hurt you. And that's unforgivable." His head bowed as if waiting for his sentence.

 _And that's unforgivable._ Only it wasn't. She was furious and hurt but it wasn't enough to push her away the way he feared, the way he was trying to prepare himself for. She'd wanted to have this conversation with the Arrow to make it easier. Except for all his faults, Oliver was the Arrow and the Arrow was Oliver. And he would no more hurt her on purpose than he'd hurt his sister or Dig. He was just so damn thoughtless sometimes.

"You're so stupid sometimes." She whispered finally and he only nodded, eyes on her feet. The hand that wasn't tangled with his reached out and touched his cheek. Her thumb brushed slowly at the tears gathered there and her heart clenched.

"When you fainted this morning, I thought I was going to die." He panted. "When John hit me I was kind of hoping he'd never stop."

That was so very  _Oliver_. Her hand skimmed up to his head and pushed back the hood. He went very still as she pushed the mask off his head as well. John hadn't held his punch if the bruise and swollen eye were any indication. Her fingers traced the bruise as she willed him to look back up at her. His eyes closed when she cupped his cheek and stubble scraped her palm as he rubbed it against her hand.

"I don't want to love you anymore, Oliver." She admitted and his face scrunched tightly together. The sight of it knocked the breath out of her. Oliver was so used to concealing his emotions from the outside world that he sometimes forgot to be open with the team. He'd been nothing but open with her today. There wasn't a single thing he'd felt that hadn't been there for the world to see. Progress?

"Please." He pleaded, eyes still tightly shut.

"Please what, Oliver?"

His eyes opened and his eyes begged for something she couldn't guess at.

"Please don't let me take your light. Please don't be like me." His voice cracked. "I couldn't live with myself."

Tears fell from her eyes as she gasped, "Oh, Oliver!"

She slid forward and his head dropped to rest against her belly. She ran her fingers over his short hair as he gripped her tightly. She stared down at the man before her and she found herself at a loss. How was it possible that a mere 12 hours ago she'd been yelling at him and now they were here? This beautiful man in front of her hated himself more than she ever could. He was mumbling apologies against her stomach and she couldn't make out more than a word here or there.

They remained in this position for hours and Oliver had apologized until his voice was hoarse. The sun was just appearing over the horizon when Felicity pulled away. She placed both on hands on either side of Oliver's face and tilted his head until his tired, red-rimmed eyes met hers. She leaned forward and they both closed their eyes as she placed a kiss on his forehead.

"I forgive you." She breathed against his skin. She could feel his body relax and she moved from the couch to sit in his lap. His arms wrapped around her tightly as she rested her cheek against his chest, facing the window. His lips were on her forehead and in her hair to speak of the relief that he couldn't find the words to convey.

"Where do we go from here?" Oliver wondered once they had watched the sun rise halfway through the sky.

"I'm not really sure. I'm sure we'll screw this up again." Her lips quirked sadly. "You're better at this apologizing thing than I'd have guessed."

"I'm better at everything when you're involved." He mumbled against her hair.

Her lips opened and then closed again. She'd seen more than a hint of what his actual feelings for her might be over the course of the night but now wasn't the time. He'd woken up with Sara yesterday and there would be consequences for that. He wouldn't be moving from one bed to another. But all the same, it was nice to know for sure this time that there might be a future for the two of them. It was also nice that he was finally aware of the way his actions affected those around him.

"Did you really carry me to the med bay with your  _arrow_ hanging out?" She wondered aloud before she could stop herself.

He went very still and she looked up at him. The horror on his face was so funny that she snorted before full out laughing. The embarrassment was still clear but the relief at the sound of her laughter overtook his features.

"Shut it, Smoak."

She fell asleep shortly after and was vaguely aware of him carrying her to her bed. She half-mumbled another joke about his  _arrow_  and she heard a chuckle. She felt his lips against her forehead before he moved away.

"Someday I promise I'll be worthy of you, Felicity. I  _promise._ " He whispered before climbing out the window.

When she fell asleep it was with a smile on her face and his promise weaving its way through her dreams.

 


End file.
